It's the Thought that Counts
by Broken-Stairway
Summary: Naruto made a promise and now he is going to keep it, no matter what it takes.


Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me.

Naruto shivered, regaining consciousness. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room.

"It's the same."

He let out a sigh, his breath dancing in a cloud in front of his face before dissipating into the air. It never changed, regardless of how long he was there.

'Don't know what I was expecting, nothing's changed in weeks so why should it now,' he thought as he lightly tested the bonds on his wrists and ankles, not expecting anything to come of his efforts. Every time he woke he would pull at the straps that held him down, fully aware of the binding seals placed on them.

Giving up, he turned to stare at the wall and began counting the characters in the elaborate seal that stretched from the wall down to the floor and ceiling, and around to the other walls in the chamber. This was an exercise he had invented to keep from going mad. He would count the characters in a given section of the seal and then name the ones he recognized along with their particular attributes.

"_The power a seal has is not always directly related to its size; rather it is the complexity of the interactions between the different characters that make up a seals power. A seal with only one repeating character is not as powerful as a seal with two different characters, but a seal with three characters may be weaker if the characters have no similar attributes."_

"Not doing me much good at the moment Ero-Sannin," he muttered as he stared at the wall. Jiraiya had tried on numerous occasions to teach him sealing techniques but he had never had the patience to get past those few introductory lessons.

He had been staring at a section of the seal for what felt like hours before he growled in frustration and turned to gaze at the ceiling, though the motion was symbolic since the view was practically the same.

"I don't even know why I bother, it's not like I don't already know what this thing does," he said, shivering again as he felt the chill radiating from the wall. Even if he hadn't been able to feel the effects for himself Orochimaru had taken great delight in explaining every detail of the seal to him.

"_Isn't it beautiful Naruto-kun? You know I had it made just for you so I hope you like it."_

Naruto shivered again, though this time it had nothing to do with the cold. He wasn't sure why Orochimaru insisted on keeping him alive in this place, though the man did seem to take pleasure in dropping in on him once a week or so to gloat about his victory, about how Naruto had failed to save Sasuke, and about how he had broken his promise to Sakura.

"_Won't she be disappointed to see how you've failed Naruto-kun? Think of her expression the next time she see's Sasuke-kun only to realize that it's me. I wonder what she will do. Do you think she will cry Naruto-kun? Will she beg me to return him to her?"_

His hands balled up into fists at the memory of the snake man's words, how apt they were, and how clear of a picture they painted in his mind.

Naruto turned his attention back to the wall, trying to distract himself from his memories. A sickly pale-yellow light emanated from the seal, the type of color Naruto had always associated with decay. It made him sick to his stomach, though he knew there was more than the color causing his nausea. In addition to making the room unpleasantly cold, it also had the nasty effect of suppressing his chakra. When he had first been placed in the room he had been violently ill and threw up several times. He had felt blind and deaf. He had been used to having a large amount of chakra in his system at all times and being so suddenly robbed of it had been shocking. He had gotten used to the feeling, however, and all that remained was the ache in his stomach, which he wasn't entirely certain wasn't due to hunger.

"Good morning Naruto-kun."

Narruto's eyes widened but he kept his gaze fixed on the seal. He hadn't heard the snake sannin enter but he never did. Orochimaru seemed to love catching him off guard and his visits were always timed so as to be when Naruto was least likely to enjoy his company.

"What do you want?" he asked, without moving his eyes from the seal. He tried to keep his voice even but was unable to completely hide his anger, a fact which only served to amuse the sannin.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Ah why so upset Naruto-kun? Today is a special day, you should be happy. I'm going to be taking Sasuke-kun's body today and thought I would invite you to watch. If you would like I'll even use his hands to kill you afterwards. Would that cheer you up Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's head snapped up and he glared at Orochimaru.

"You leave Sasuke alone do you hear me you son of a bitch?!" he shouted, struggling against his restraints.

Orochimaru merely chuckled as he walked towards Naruto. "Now now Naruto-kun I know you want to see Sasuke-kun and you simply must attend the ceremony so why don't you come without a fuss?"

Naruto continued to struggle as Orochimaru placed his hand against Naruto's forehead and mumbled something. The last thing Naruto saw before he lost consciousness was Orochimaru grinning at him, his eyes glowing with the same sickly hue as the walls.

Naruto awoke to find himself in a long corridor, water up to his ankles and the sound of moving air filling his ears. He knew exactly where he was and began walking towards the source of the sound.

He walked until the corridor widened to accommodate the bars of a giant cage with a small seal placed on it. He felt no fear as he walked to within reach of the bars and looked into the cage.

"Kyuubi"

The demon said nothing, sitting there watching his doomed host.

Naruto could feel the demon's chakra, the chill that had been present in his body since he had been placed in the sealed room leaving his body and seeming to melt into the water around his feet. He felt the familiar warmth of the demons chakra so angry and hurtful, but so comforting at the same time.

"_Don't worry Sakura-chan! I promise I won't let Orochimaru have Sasuke!"_

Naruto lifted his hand to brush the seal, running his fingers over the now faded letters of the Yondaime's curse. He closed his fingers around the seal.

"Don't make me break my promise."

A/N: Well this is my first fanfic. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think, and please give me constructive criticism. I don't mind taking a blow to my pride as long as I can come out of it a better writer. I've always struggled with plot and fiction in general so this is me attempting to write a scenario of my own creation using someone else's characters. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with longer stories in the future but this idea had been floating around in my head for awhile and it seemed like a good time to get it out. It is, to the best of my knowledge, an original idea so please don't accuse me of copying someone. Alright so just give a review if you liked it or actually just if you read it and hopefully you'll see me again soon.


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